NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team will welcome Missouri State and Southern Illinois to Redbird Arena for their Missouri Valley Conference home opener this Friday and Saturday, October 1-2. The Redbirds will face the Missouri State Bears on Friday and the Salukis of Southern Illinois on Saturday with both matches set to begin at 6 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
vs. Missouri State | WATCH | LIVE STATS
vs. Southern Illinois | WATCH | LIVE STATS
AROUND THE ARENA
This weekend is Reggie's Kids Club Weekend with special events and activities happening at Redbird Arena on both Friday and Saturday. At Friday's matchup against Missouri State, gaming stations with popular titles including Rocket League, Super Smash Bros and more will be set up along the concourse for fans' enjoyment. Prior to Saturday's match against SIU, there will be a Disney Storytime event featuring SpreadTheMagic including free food. The Bloomington and Normal Public Libraries, including the Bookmobile, will also be on site at Saturday's match. Visit Reggie's Kids Club Facebook page for more information.
LAST TIME AGAINST MISSOURI STATE
For the second time in three seasons, the Illinois State volleyball team pulled off the series sweep of Missouri State, besting the Bears in four sets on. Sophomore Sarah Kushner led the way with 21 kills on .442 hitting.
LAST TIME AGAINST SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
The Illinois State volleyball team took down Southern Illinois in straight sets to clinch the program's 11th Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title, and second title in two years.
OTENE OUTSTANDING
Sophomore outside hitter Tamara Otene registered a career night on her birthday in Illinois State's 3-2 win over UNI last weekend. The Auckland, New Zealand native finished with a lifetime best 22 kills, hitting .236 percent. With that hitting percentage, Otene has hit over .220 seven times this season. Through ISU's two conference matches, Otene has 36 kills, averaging 4.50 kills per set, which is second only to Loyola Chicago's Addie Barnes.
SERVING STEADY
The Redbirds have improved their serving as conference play has begun, leading the Missouri Valley Conference with 13 total aces in conference play thus far. Averaging 1.62 service aces per set, the 'Birds are in second in aces per set behind Indiana State. Senior Carley Nicholson is leading Illinois State in the service aces category with six throughout Valley play. That marks the most total aces by an individual in the Valley, while Nicholson is averaging the second-most per set with 0.75 through eight sets played.
BLOCK PARTY
Sophomore Cassie Jordan and junior Sarah Kushner each notched career bests in blocks against UNI with Jordan finishing with seven on the night and Kushner chipping in five. Jordan is currently tied for the second-most blocks per set in the Missouri Valley Conference for conference contests. With 11 total blocks through ISU's two MVC matchups, Jordan is averaging 1.38 blocks per set (8 sets played).
CAREER BESTS FALL IN CEDAR FALLS
Multiple Redbirds saw their previous career bests in a number of categories fall at last weekend's match versus the UNI Panthers. Several Illinois State volleyball athletes achieved new career bests in ISU's first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season, led by Allie Trame who achieved and/or matched lifetime bests in four different categories (aces, blocks, kills, assists). Aliyah Moore and Carley Nicholson each matched their lifetime bests in kills (5 sets) for Moore and in aces for Nicholson. ISU's Birthday Bird, Tamara Otene, was a force against UNI, registered 22 kills, her most ever in a Redbird uniform. Each player's career bests in all statistical categories can be found on the player pages (pgs. 9-26 in the match notes).
ROAD TO 100 WINS AT ISU
In only her fifth season at the helm of the Illinois State volleyball program, Head Coach Leah Johnson is approaching her 100th victory as a Redbird. Johnson needs just 10 more wins to reach the milestone win even with a shortened season in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since taking over as ISU's head coach in 2017, Johnson has coached the 'Birds to three 20+ win seasons, three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, two MVC Tournament titles and two MVC regular season titles.
For all latest on Illinois State volleyball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
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